Hydrochloric Acid → (1,1'-Biphenyl)-2-carboxylic acid, 4'-methyl-, methyl ester

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Reaction Steps

A mixture of nickel chloride (0.11 g, 0.85 mmoles), triphenylphosphine (0.44 g, 1.7 mmoles), and dry tetrahydrofuran (25 ml), at room temperature and under inert atmosphere (nitrogen), is added with 1.6 M n-butyllithium (1.1 ml; 1.7 mmoles); the mixture is kept under stirring for 15′, then added with methyl 2-(methanesulfonyloxy)benzoate (10.1 g, 44 mmoles, prepared as described in Example 3) dissolved in dry tetrahydrofuran (10 ml). After further 15′ under stirring, the resulting mixture is added to a suspension of p-tolylzinc bromide prepared as described in Example 1, previously added with lithium chloride (2.3 g, 54 mmoles). The resulting mixture is kept at room temperature for 12 hours, then poured into a solution of water (100 ml) and 37% hydrochloric acid (25 ml); the phases are separated, the organic phase is extracted with a water-dichloromethane mixture (50 ml; 50:50); the phases are separated again and the organic one is dried over sodium sulfate and evaporated under vacuum to a residue, to obtain methyl 2-(4-methylphenyl)benzoate as an oil (8.2 g, yield 82%).

Provenance & Evidence